THE spirit of the Eighties is set to return to south Essex after councillors rubber-stamped controversial plans to build a new rollerskating rink.

Clive Meech, 42, and his business partner Lee Hulls, 38, hope to create 40 jobs and a fun activity for youngsters, by installing the rink, called Rollacity, in an empty building on Purdeys Industrial Estate, Rochford.

However, the pair had to convince Rochford district councillors their dream would not indirectly threaten teenagers’ lives by forcing them to walk or bike along busy roads to get there.

Mr Meech said: “We are very pleased and happy it went through.

“We were expecting some opposition and that’s what we got, but I think most people saw what we were trying to achieve.”

Mr Meech came up with the roller rink idea following a visit to a similar venture in Colchester.

He decided to submit plans after the popularity of a temporary rink outside the Cliffs Pavilion last summer convinced him there would be an appetite for a permanent facility in the south of the county.

That bid was rejected last August on the grounds the rink would be too noisy for neighbouring firm Thermo Fisher and the dangers posed by the lack of a pavement leading to the industrial estate.

Before submitting their new plans, Mr Meech and Mr Hulls paid acoustics expert Peter Mapp to come up with a solution to the noise problem.

They also struck a deal with Thermo Fisher, now renamed Electrothermal Engineering, to allow both businesses to use the other’s car parking spaces when one was closed, increasing the number of spaces available for parents to drop-off and pick up their children.

The measures were enough to convince the majority of the 39-strong planning committee at Rochford District Council to give the plans the green light and the rink is now expected to open in October.

Jo McPherson (Con, Hawkwell North) said: “Rochford is an area that has been subject to a lot of antisocial behaviour. These young people need somewhere to go and this facility would provide that.”

But Keith Gordon (Con, Rochford) claimed the lack of footpaths along Sutton Road would endanger lives and unsuccessfully called for a recorded vote.

He said: “I want the people of Rochford to know who is responsible for the first death on that road.”